The Kitchen Garden

This term we have been getting our hands dirty in the school's garden. We have begun each cooking session by going down to the garden and picking the star ingredient for the recipe.

Beetroot Brownie

Week one kicked off with the unusual combination of beetroot and chocolate! This novel combination produced deliciously moist and slightly earthy brownies. A big hit!

Sweetcorn Fritters

This week the boys headed to the garden to check our sweetcorn crop. Sadly, due to the hot weather and lack of rain the sweetcorn had not been as bountiful as we had hoped, but the boys managed to pick enough to make spicy sweetcorn fritters, flavoured with home-grown chilli.

Squash Tray bake

The boys started the session by investigating all the different shapes and sizes of squash that had been cultivated in the garden and chose which ones to cook with. The boys then softened them with some sugar to caramelise them and then baked them in a vanilla sponge. Perfect with a cup of tea.

Caramelised Apple Turnovers

With our glut of apples in the garden, the boys chose to make delicious turnovers served with a rich caramel sauce. Chris also made his own version of apple crumble, crisped with extra sugar on top.

Pumpkin Hawla

To celebrate Diwali, the boys used a pumpkin grown in the garden (that had escape Halloween!) and tried their hand at Hawla. Traditionally made with carrot, we tried a pumpkin version recipe, which despite our best attempts, was not a great success! Still, the boys had great fun pulling out the seeds from the pumpkin and getting their hands dirty!

Street Food

Churros

Typically known as the 'Spanish doughnut', these culinary delights are predominately found in Spain, Latin America and Portugal. In this session, Kyeran made a light batter, similar to choux pastry, and piped it carefully into boiling oil to cook. Once in the oil, the batter puffs up and browns and once they become a golden colour, they are fished out and gently rolled in sugar. When cooled, dip them in chocolate sauce.....heaven!

Chicken Satay with sweet and sour radishes and homemade flat breads

Intrigued by the flavours of Asia, the group tackled a three part recipe, making chicken skewers, a side salad and our own flat bread. Firstly the chicken was marinated in a mixture of spices and peanut butter and carefully threaded onto bamboo skewers. The radishes were then flavoured with a usual combination of lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chillies. (However, not all boys were convinced by the smell of fish sauce!) Lastly, the boys made a simple, non-yeast dough, and flattened them into a hot, dry pan to make the naan breads. All the boys did a fantastic job and were pleasantly surprised by the unusual flavours!

Rolling Rolling Rolling

Swiss Rolls

The first challenge in term six was to attempt the art of making a homemade Swiss Roll. Chris and Lucastook on the challenge and made light sponge mixture which was poured onto a thin baking tray and cookedlightly. When they removed from the oven, the sponge was cooled and rolled with the aid of a damp tea towel. The boys chose fillings of sweetened cream and jam. Perfect with a cup of tea (and some Lego men!)!

Spring Rolls

No need to head down to the local takeaway, Lucas and Jack have perfected the classic spring roll. With choices of meat, prawns and vegetables, the boys cooked off their chosen filling, with soy sauce and Chinese spices. While cooling, the boys prepared their filo pastry and then tightly rolled their mixture into long rolls and brushed with egg. Cooked until golden brown, they were then dipped in soy or sweet chilli sauce and devoured!

Meringue roulade

With the success of our Swiss Rolls, we thought we would experiment with the more grown up version, Roulade! Never attempted by either myself or Kyeran, we worked as a team to perfect this beautiful dessert. First a soft meringue was made and cooked in a similar fashion to the Swiss roll. Kyeran then made some sweetened cream and chose plump blueberries for the filling. With two pairs of hands and a delicate touch, the meringue rolled beautifully. Dusted with icing sugar, it was delicious!

Sushi

The ultimate challenge of sushi was proposed by our adventurous cook, Jack. Each boy chose a combination of fillings including cucumber, carrot, pepper, avocado, prawn and smoked salmon. The boys prepared their special rice, adding the Chinese vinegar and fanning it to cool in the traditional manner. The boys then carefully laid their rice and fillings on their sheets of nori seaweed (the hot wasabi was optional!) and tightly rolled it, sealing it was water, and slicing it into rounds. It was a triumph and a great way to end the term!